just friends
by Douglas Messerli
Leon Cheo (screenwriter and director) People
Like Us, “Dates and Fun,” Season 1, Episode 3 / 2016 [8 minutes]
Episode 3 finds Joel trying to comprehend,
along with his friends, why Ridzwan behaved so “weird,” while Rai is equally on
his phone trying desperately to pick up dates from Grindr and other services,
exploring a lot of fairly uninteresting figures through dinners. One is into
traveling and lists the places where he has most enjoyed the architecture;
another has a germ phobia, wiping off the forks with napkins and assuring Rai
that his wine is filled with germs; a third takes pictures of all the food he
eats, and is delighted to have 49 likes a few moments later.
At
least, the traveler is good in bed. But then, after sex, he asks if he can
possibly keep Rai’s underwear: “I really like this brand a lot.”
This one is different, with Isaac showing genuine interest in the
younger boy, and explaining that, as a late bloomer, he’s fairly new to the
apps., in of which we know Rai is far too experienced. Rai suggests that he thinks
he really likes older men and is tired of the same cycle with boys his age:
“Seek? Fun / Top? Bottom? / Got place?” Older men seem to know what they want,
he argues.
Rai admits, he had worse fears in his mind, as surely many of viewers
must have. They declare their relationship, a friendship, surely not what Rai
was seeking. Yet it is still a step in the right direction.
Joel keeps trying to call Ridzwan without success, but suddenly runs
into him, once again eating alone. The episode ends with Joel’s characteristic
greeting of “Hey,” with Ridzwan’s attempt, once more, to wish that his friend
might disappear.
Los Angeles, June 6, 2023
Reprinted from My Queer Cinema blog
(June 2023).
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